LED lamps greatly reduce operating cost compared to incandescent lamps, are more pleasing than fluorescent lamps, and have a very long life.
Flat light panels for overhead lighting using LEDs are known. High power LEDs are typically optically coupled to the edge of a light guide, and the light guide has a roughened surface for light emission. The LED light is reflected internally until it leaks out the roughened surface. Light panels are also known which comprise a two-dimensional array of bare LEDs sandwiched between two conductor layers and supported on a substrate, where the LED light directly exits the surface of the light panel opposite to the substrate. Typically, for both types of light panels, if more than one light panel is needed, such as for overhead lighting of a room, each light panel is independently supported and independently connected to a power supply.
Drawbacks with the above designs include: 1) separately supporting each light panel adds cost and weight; 2) the support structures are required to be aesthetically pleasing for a wide variety of applications; 3) the support structures take up space and create dark areas between the light panels; 4) the independently supported light panels must be carefully aligned by the installer; and 5) the installer of the light panels must determine how to install the light panels with the correct voltage polarity.
What is needed is a wide area LED light system, such as for overhead lighting, that does not suffer from the above-described drawbacks.